Emily P. Freeman Quotes & Sayings

God gives us the courage to face those fears and then invites us to move toward him in the midst of them. — Emily P. Freeman

I don't want to live my life in such a hurry that I'm always closing the fridge door with my foot and scribbling out birthday cards in my car at the last minute. I want to make bread, or at least find the time to toast it. — Emily P. Freeman

There is always movement in the waiting: walk to the kitchen, reach for his hand, close the eyes in wonder. In the waiting, there may be slowing, but there is never stopping. Not completely. Because living things move. God is always moving toward us and we always have the choice to move toward God. Even in the silence, even as we wait. Maybe especially so. — Emily P. Freeman

These hiding places may have been helping you cope, but they are not who you are.
These good girl voices challenge your identity. — Emily P. Freeman

God does not ask us to carry burdens. He does not ask us to save the world. He does not ask us to come up with a plan. He simply asks us to 'come'. — Emily P. Freeman

What gives moments meaning is not the moments themselves but the presence of Christ with us in the midst of them. — Emily P. Freeman

You may not be the first to say it, write it, create it, or believe it - but you saying it may be the first time someone finally hears. Yes, someone else can say it better, but that doesn't mean you can't say it too. Throw out your inhibitions and spin around in this crazy world of recycled ideas. There is nothing new to say. Say it anyway. — Emily P. Freeman

Maybe you're wondering what it actually means to live a graceful life. We've got many chapters ahead to figure out what that might look like for you ... — Emily P. Freeman

As a good girl, my worship was small and my service was toxic because I didn't understand the completeness of my rescue. I knew I was going to heaven when I died, but I thought my life on earth was all up to me. Jesus saved me, and now he was standing back with his arms crossed, waiting to see how I would live my life. Service seemed a burden. Worship felt contrived. I had received Christ by faith for my salvation, but I was working hard for the rest. Until he said *enough*. When I began to understand that my true identity was not in how I looked, how I felt, or the lies I believed, my masks began to lose their staying power. It wasn't because I was trying hard to remove them. It was because I was seeing Jesus for who he really is, and in turn I was letting him see me. — Emily P. Freeman

God is not a technician. God is an Artist. This is the God who made you. The same God who lives inside of you. He comes into us, then comes out of us, in a million little ways. That's why there's freedom, even in the blah. Hope, even in the dark. Love, even in the fear. Trust, even as we face our critics. And believe in the midst of all that? It feels like strength and depth and wildflower spinning; it feels risky and brave and underdog winning. It feels like redemption. It feels like art. — Emily P. Freeman

Sometimes that's what prayer is
simply inviting God to join us where we actually are, not because He isn't already here but because inviting Him reminds us it's true. — Emily P. Freeman

Art is too important a term to be used just for painters. And sculptors. And playwrights. And actors. And architects of a certain type. No, I think we need to broaden it to graphic designers and salespeople and bosses. To lay preachers, to gifted politicians and occasionally, to the guy who sweeps the floor. Art is a human act, something that's done with the right sort of intent. Art is when we do work that matters, in a creative way, in a way that touches them and changes them for the better.[1] Seth Godin, Graceful — Emily P. Freeman

Your childhood dream delights God. I don't say that because every secret dream will come true. But having a dream is evidence of a person who is fully alive. Having a dream is a reflection of the image of God. — Emily P. Freeman

Picture a girl with her arms full of small packages, too many to hold all at once. When they topple and fall all around her, she stoops down and scoops them all back up, literally re-collecting all the gifts that are already hers. To set your mind is to recollect truth that already belongs to you. — Emily P. Freeman

I choose to believe God rather than my feelings. I choose to believe I am acceptable even though I feel unacceptable. — Emily P. Freeman

These outward identities we build for ourselves are not all that we are. A person is made of so many layers. Skin is just the top layer. It's the part you can see, so when you walk into a room, others won't run into you. It's the brown-hair, brown-eyes layer; the you-look-good-in-green layer.
Your outside is important because God made that part. He made you on purpose, uniquely beautiful. But you can't stop there, because that's your body, your skin, your outside. Dead people have all that stuff too. — Emily P. Freeman

Let's dig deep, not to create meaning where there isn't any, but to see Christ, our companion, where he actually is, not where we wish he was. — Emily P. Freeman

Even if we aren't having sex with out boyfriends, it's still easy to find our identify in them in an unhealthy way. — Emily P. Freeman

But Tuesday teaches me that part of living well in ordinary time is letting this day be good. Letting this day be a gift. Letting this day be filled with plenty. And if it all goes wrong and my work turns to dust? This is my kind reminder that outcomes are beyond the scope of my job description. — Emily P. Freeman

Even though I may feel unsafe and unacceptable, I am accepted in Christ. — Emily P. Freeman

There is no activity that is somehow more Christian than another. God looks at the heart, and that is the good part that Mary knew. he simply asks us to come as we are and to be willing, open to receive whatever he might have for us this day. That is what it means to live a graceful life. — Emily P. Freeman

Either way, the result is you depending on yourself to do life right. Either way, God isn't even in the room. — Emily P. Freeman

If I am trying to please God, it is difficult to trust God. But when I trust God, pleasing him is automatic. — Emily P. Freeman

In my own life I've found it to be true that when I hold on to the wrong things, the wrong things hold on to me. — Emily P. Freeman

Are you trying to be who Jesus wants you to be? Or do you trust him to bring out who he has already created you to be? It is vital to recognize the difference between these two questions because one leads to death, the other leads to life. — Emily P. Freeman

Don't try to handle your anxiety. Bring your anxiety into the presence of Christ. Don't try to fix your loneliness. Bring your loneliness into the presence of Christ. Don't try to hide your addiction. Bring your addiction into the presence of Christ. Don't try to change your attitude. Bring your attitude into the presence of Christ. Don't despise your humanity. Bring your humanity into the presence of Christ. — Emily P. Freeman

You are worried and bothered about so many things; but only one thing is necessary, for Mary has chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her" (Luke 10:41-42)
Choosing to please God sounds right at first, but it so often leads to a performing life, a girl trying to become good, a lean-on-myself theology. If I am trying to please God, it is difficult trust God. But when I trust God, pleasing him is automatic.
Anything we do to get life and identity outside of Christ is an idol, even service to Christ. He doesn't want my service. He wants me. And from that life-giving relationship, "streams of living water will flow from within" (John 7:38 NIV) — Emily P. Freeman

Believe in myself and I sink into the waves of worry, procrastination, daily tasks, and diagnoses. There is no dry ground in sight. But sink hard into God and he will buoy the soul on top of the water. Stepping out of the boat and walking toward Jesus, I realized how looking deep into the eyes of God is art all by itself. — Emily P. Freeman

Grief does deep, important, sacred work. We have to pay attention to what makes us come alive and in what has the capacity to shut us down. What breaks our hearts reminds us what is deeply important to us. It is often from this place that our most beautiful, honest, generous art comes. As we move into the world as who we most deeply, fully are, our art has the capacity to be a gift for others, and in this we see hints of the resurrection life. — Emily P. Freeman

Knowing what you have makes all the difference. — Emily P. Freeman

Weigh the cost your yes will have on your spirit, your soul, and your body. You may have to search for your brave yes, but you will have to fight for your strong no. — Emily P. Freeman

The voice of the Dreamer convinced me that 'later' would always be better than 'now', that 'someday' is where life will really happen and high school is just something we have to get through before we can live our real lives. — Emily P. Freeman

Some girls look to fill the emptiness with their rebellious ways and get into trouble. Other girls try hard to fill the emptiness with good things and get praise. But both girls are reaching for something we'll never find outside of God. — Emily P. Freeman

We often say things like, "Jesus died so I didn't have to, " but it's actually much worse. The truth is, Jesus died and so did I. But the worse morphs into better when we remember that Jesus didn't stay dead. And neither do we. Let the dying moments remind us where to find the living. — Emily P. Freeman

I didn't want to be such a good girl anymore. I wanted people to fear messing with me ... I wanted to be intimidating. At least that's how I acted. The truth is, what I really wanted more than anything was to be liked. As much as I talked bad about those girls, I would have given anything for them to like me. — Emily P. Freeman

It's hard to write about this mask because the spiritual disciplines are good things. The problem is not the fact that we do them; it is our good-girl interpretation of what doing these things means. For many years, I lived as a believer in God but I did not live *from* God. I was a child of the God of grace but I was looking for life in the law. — Emily P. Freeman

Maybe those things bringing you joy do so because they are one of the many ways in which God wants to declare his glory through you. — Emily P. Freeman

The deepest need of my soul isn't a personal organizer or an empty inbox. The deepest need of my soul is Christ. — Emily P. Freeman

The number one reason we don't believe things that are true is because they don't always feel true. — Emily P. Freeman

The voice of the Dreamer often pushes us to escape. When we listen to her voice, our dreams are held captive. We dream things shaped by heaven but twisted by the world, things of escape and vacation and eternal lounging. — Emily P. Freeman

When I was in sixth grade, I wanted to be tough and untouchable, but really I was squishy and sensitive. — Emily P. Freeman

Our gifts are not from God to us, but from God through us to the world. - Janice Elsheimer, The Creative Call — Emily P. Freeman

Because I care so much about what you think, my hiding has everything to do with you. I desperately want to manage your opinion of me. Nearly anything I do is to convince you I am good. — Emily P. Freeman

But I didn't understand the middle-of-a-Tuesday Jesus. I only knew him as a when-I-get-to-heaven Jesus. He was my ticket and not much else. — Emily P. Freeman

The best part of hiding is being found. — Emily P. Freeman

My part is not feeding five thousand men. My part is giving my lunch to Jesus. — Emily P. Freeman

The story of redemtion and healing is that Jesus came to exchange my not-good-enough with his better-than-I-could-ever-imagine. He came to trade my life for His, my weak for His strong, my ashes for His beauty. He longs for each of us to recieve the gift of Himself. — Emily P. Freeman

If what you are called to feels less than extraordinary, there is a tendency to think, 'Well, the Lord has big plans for me later.' And you wait patiently until he decides to reveal that master plan. But what if his plan for you is right where you are? Are you missing it because you are looking for something 'more' extraordinary? — Emily P. Freeman

This is also a book abut God, about what it means
and what it doesn't mean
to believe. — Emily P. Freeman

Pursuing desire is only toxic when we demand our desires be satisfied on our terms and in our timing. As recipients of the new heart of the Spirit, our deepest desire, when honestly realized, will always lead us to God. — Emily P. Freeman

I had a crush, but I'm not sure I actually had a crush on Sam Hunt. He was the face attached to it, but I don't really know much about him at all. I thought he played basketball, but I think it may have actually been volleyball. No matter. I took what I knew, and I filled in the details to my liking. It was fun. And also ridiculous. When you have a crush on a half-real, half-imaginary boy, you will always be disappointed. — Emily P. Freeman

In the midst of grief, there is no such thing as strong women of God. There is only brokenness, desperate need, and little girls in Daddy's lap. We are not called to be strong women. Oh, how that sentence makes me bristle. I want to be strong, independent, and capable. This broken, desperate need for Christ offends my mask. — Emily P. Freeman

You miss the living because you are waiting for perfect, and so you let goodness and blessings pass you right on by. — Emily P. Freeman

Many people acknowledge they can never be perfect. They say, I'm not perfect, so what's the point? I'm not even gonna try. — Emily P. Freeman

That's what service does. It points us to Jesus, not to ourselves. — Emily P. Freeman

Worship, not work, flows out of the hearts of those who believe. — Emily P. Freeman

Let disappointment do its deep work
remind you that your true desire is found, not in God's ways or God's will or God's blessings, but in God himself. — Emily P. Freeman

We may call it "people pleasing," but it is entirely self-serving because it is really all about keeping myself comfortable. Boiled down, it could be more accurately called "me pleasing. — Emily P. Freeman

Rather than admitting you don't know what to do next, you fake it in public and feel lost when you're alone. — Emily P. Freeman

I've spent a lot of time thinking about what it means to do work well and in a healthy way without using my work as a way to define myself. Jesus says his load is easy and his burden is light, but he doesn't say there isn't a load or a burden. He recognizes there is something to carry but he invites us into the easy way of carrying it. — Emily P. Freeman

I don't remember anything about that summer because I existed in a lonely fog of memories, longing, and rejection. — Emily P. Freeman

Being his workmanship doesn't mean we are all poets. It means we are all poems, individual created works of a creative God. And this poetry comes out uniquely through us as we worship, think, love, pray, rest, work, and exist. — Emily P. Freeman

Just because it doesn't make sense 'to me' doesn't mean it doesn't make sense 'at all'. — Emily P. Freeman

We have an enemy who would do anything to keep us distracted from Jesus. — Emily P. Freeman

True belief is movement toward God even in the midst of confusion or frustration or fear. — Emily P. Freeman

Attention, success, and comparison hold my soul hostage and refuse to negotiate until they get what they want. Spoiler alert: They want everything. And they are never satisfied. They will never let you go. — Emily P. Freeman

It isn't about what we are supposed to 'do'; it is about what we choose to 'believe'. — Emily P. Freeman

Jesus came to save me from myself. He came to save me from self-effort. He didn't just die for my sin to give me forgiveness; he rose again to give me life. — Emily P. Freeman

But understand that the reason it is so difficult to extend forgiveness to those who have failed us is because we are unable to receive forgiveness for our own failures. — Emily P. Freeman

To be able to look ahead while also celebrating now is a delicate kind of art, to imagine what could be without discounting what is. — Emily P. Freeman

When we believe that God expects us to try hard to become who Jesus wants us to be, we will live in that blurry, frustrating land of Should Be rather than trust in The One Who Is. — Emily P. Freeman

We teach them when they're babies that they're the center of the world, and they spend the rest of their lives realizing they're not. — Emily P. Freeman

What if you began to see your art as something other than your idea? What if it was less lofty and more necessary to your daily rhythm? What if your art is part of a bigger picture, part of a daily grace God has in mind for someone else? — Emily P. Freeman

To accept the lively, the messy, and the unexpected things in our days, knowing that God sees them and has an eternal perspective, is to say with confidence I receive your timing. — Emily P. Freeman

It's no wonder we are so messed up when it comes to walking with God. In nearly every aspect of our existence, good performance equals good reward. Except not with him. A good thing turns bad when we perform to earn God's acceptance rather than simply receive it like a gift. — Emily P. Freeman

God sees you. Not because of what you have done or not done but because you are loved. — Emily P. Freeman

And so the meaning of our lives is not dependent upon what we make of it but of what he is making of us. — Emily P. Freeman

I can't prevent storms from coming, but I can decide not to invent my own. — Emily P. Freeman

You think to yourself that if anyone knew who you really were, what you've really done, they would never accept you. — Emily P. Freeman

It's bold, rash, and embarrassing, Martha talking to God this way. But her honesty paved the way for Jesus to speak to her. — Emily P. Freeman

All he wants is simply you - minus your good works, minus your perfect attendance, minus your politeness. When you really believe that, you may discover that all you want is Jesus, simply Jesus. Not just to get to heaven or to help you be a good person or do the right thing, but to simply love and be loved by him. — Emily P. Freeman

When we listen to the voice of the Dreamer and hide behind our somedays, we miss out on the gifts of today. — Emily P. Freeman

The question I constantly asked myself was this: What am I supposed to do? — Emily P. Freeman

I want to encourage you today: needy is a beautiful place to be. When we recognize our need, we will finally look around for something (or someone) to fill it. — Emily P. Freeman

I looked to my boyfriend to satisfy my Godbreathed longing for acceptance. I had my first glimpse of what it might feel like to be loved in a romantic way. It didn't take long for me to become addicted to that feeling. — Emily P. Freeman

...for those of us who never do these things at all, there can be a great sense of shame that washes over us for not being a good enough Christian. — Emily P. Freeman

Whether it's creating a chapter of a book or a quiet conversation, trying to do too many things at once is one of my biggest obstacles to living artfully. — Emily P. Freeman

Discontentment shows up when we focus on what we can't have rather than what we do have. — Emily P. Freeman

Like you, I'm figuring out how to walk with Christ into my day, into Target, into church, into the kitchen, and most importantly, into the lives of other people. Christ doesn't stop being relevant just because I'm standing at my sink, cleaning out my closet, meeting over coffee, driving to the bank. — Emily P. Freeman

Life is so much further from my control than even I know. — Emily P. Freeman

God is already carrying your load. Why do you insist on carrying it too? — Emily P. Freeman

You have a longing to be understood, but still feel the need to protect yourself. — Emily P. Freeman

Being a good girl is more about what you believe on the inside that how you behave on the outside. That means whether you've messed up big or you've messed up little, we all mess up. — Emily P. Freeman

When we open our hands and take that which is offered to us, we are not only receiving the thing offered, but we are receiving the person. — Emily P. Freeman

We praise people who never let on they are suffering. — Emily P. Freeman

When bad girls perform to get their needs met, they get in trouble. When good girls perform to get the same thing, we get praise. That is why the hiding is so easy for us. We work hard, we do right, and we try not to ruffle feathers. And even if we do all that by the strength of our own selves, we tell ourselves it's okay. It seems to work, therefore it's acceptable. — Emily P. Freeman

The miracle, upside-down work of God is that our failure isn't an obstacle, it's an opportunity to remember to sink into God. Not having what it takes is not a liability, it's a prerequisite. Maybe there is hope for us after all. — Emily P. Freeman

There is something about hearing a man say he wants to spend the rest of his life with you that has a way of stunning a girl's heart no matter how much she expects it. — Emily P. Freeman

What if I began to believe that the critique isn't just an unwelcome part of the art-making process but might actually make the art better? — Emily P. Freeman

To avoid the fall often means living a less-than life. — Emily P. Freeman